Have You Seen This Sneaky Escape From Bottom Half Guard?

Posted by Fanatics Authors on January 28, 2019

Reclaiming under hook half guard by off balancing your opponent (Lachlan Giles)

Who is Lachlan Giles? He is a Jiu Jitsu black belt under John Simon and arguable one of the top Australian grapplers of his generation. Giles earned his distinguished reputation in prestigious tournaments such as IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, Pan Pacific Championship, Boa Super 8 and Eddie Bravo Invitational.

Giles hails from Melbourne, Australia. At a young age he was influenced by martial arts movies. He was introduced to Jiu Jitsu at the age of 15 when he saw Royce Gracie’s legendary performance at UFC 1. Lachlan began his training in Jiu Jitsu under Tyrone Crosse. It was under Tyrone’s tutelage that he progressed to purple belt. His club changed coaches and Lachlan progressed to black belt under John Simon. It is worth noting that Giles was also heavily influenced by Thiago Stefanutti. Thiago also awarded Giles the first degree on his black belt.

Lachlan Giles is an ADCC Veteran, Pan Pacific Champion and coach to one of the fastest rising starts, Craig Jones!

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Lachlan has many exceptional achievements as a grappler. He is the ADCC Asia &Oceania Trials Champion in 2015 and 2017. He is the IBJJF Pan Pacific Champion and Pan Pacific No-GI Champion in 2016 and 2017. He won the UAEJJF Continental Pro Champion in 2018. Giles also took second place at the Boa Super 8 1st Edition and 2^nd Edition in 2015. Lachlan took 3^rd place at Eddie Bravo Invitational 5. He claimed second place at the 2018 UAEJJF Grand Slam Abu Dhabi and 3^rd place at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship in 2017.

In this video Lachlan Giles explores an escape from half guard. Giles starts the video by stating that there is a tradeoff between stability and space. If you have your hands and legs posted you are certainly in a stable position. However there is a lot of space to escape. Having a tight position we take away space for escape but also lose a degree of stability. Based on the sacrifice of stability by having a tight position Giles states that one way to get the under hook or even escape is to attack our opponent’s balance. Giles begins this attack by removing his training partner’s ability to post on the under hook side by clamping one of his legs against his opponent. Next, he then positions his other leg on top of his opponent’s leg. He then swings his inside leg and pushes against his opponent to the under hook side. This action creates enough space for Lachlan to regain his under hook. He spends some time explaining that it is important to have a high under hook. He even states that grabbing on your opponent’s arm may be a good idea for the under hook. Notice what Giles does next. He anticipates his opponent’s reaction and uses it to his advantage. When his opponent moves back to correct their position Giles pushes forward with his arms and his legs swing high in the air. With this additional space he is able to take the dog fight positon. Well done Lachlan! I can wait to add this to my game.

This video is a wonderful example of Lachlan Giles’s ability to communicate technique to even novice grapplers. Like all of Giles’ instructional videos, there is a lot of detail. I know that I often gain new insights every time I re-watch one of his videos. Certainly, they have a powerful impact on anyone who makes a careful study of them. Giles’ education, the success of his students and the popularity that he has achieved are testaments to his exceptional abilities as an instructor. Certainly the Jiu Jitsu community is lucky to have him.

Come and learn one of the world’s most important guards from one of the world’s best instructors, Lachlan Giles. The head coach of Australia’s Absolute MMA, is back to show one of his best positions, the offensive half guard. He explores the techniques that he uses to win tons of tournaments at the world black belt level. Get it now from BJJ Fanatics!

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